We have a small business in our town called Board Game Cafe, and it turns out that they're the best coffeehouse in town. I don't know how well they build a cappuccino, and their menu doesn't offer the frappufoofoocino of their local competitors, but everything I've tried on their menu (including the pastries supplied by Ali, our town's excellent baker) passes the coffreehouse test. For welcoming space, they've won the title in Maryville, in my opinion.
Coffeehouse atmosphere is not a difficult thing for the most part. It shouldn't be shiny, it shouldn't be crowded, it should be a bit quirky with perhaps primitive cabinets or old school shelves or found items on the wall. It should have its own personality -- when corporate coffee chains try to duplicate the look, they fail. Board Game Cafe has a spacious look, with a second-hand couch and chairs in the front window, and sets of tables (because it is a board game cafe as well) along the front. The color scheme is grey/white/black and, although it could use a little more color and quirk, perhaps from game-themed posters, it's unique for a coffeehouse because of its board game theme (as opposed to jute coffee sacks other coffeehouses have). I wish they had a little bit more brown and less grey in their palette to provide a warm feeling, but for the most part it carries off the coffeehouse aesthetic well.
All the Cafe needs to be a real coffeehouse is clientele, because a good coffeehouse cultivates a set of regulars who provide the incentive for other people to discover after peering through the windows. The Cafe doesn't get a lot of traffic right now, at least in part because it doesn't yet have Wi-Fi. They're holding out until they get enough profit to buy some muscular security for a Wi-Fi system, and I can't blame them given liability potential. Until then, I bring my hot spot in if I want to write there.
Anyone out there: Would you like to help this coffeehouse realize this potential? Visit it. Have coffee with your friends. Play a couple board games (they have everything from Dungeons and Dragons to CandyLand.) Tell me what you think.
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